Re: <nettime> Zittrain's Foundational Myth of the Open Internet

["Fuster, Mayo" <Mayo.Fuster@EUI.eu>]

Hello!

I am European (Nether-Italo-Catalan), but visiting the Bay Area for six
months. 

>The larger problematic here is the lack of counter-hegemonic projects 
>that could function as an alternative to the quasi monopoly of 
>Berkman. It?s unlikely to come from Latin-America. Europe or Asia 
>then? 

Silicon Valley is one hour distance from San Francisco. From San Francisco,
I think there is still space in USA for alliances in a counter-hegemonic
projects. Let's make present the large non-profit technology sector at the
Bay Area (I.e.: The Non profit Bar Camp this Saturday
http://craigslistfoundation.org/index.php?page=sf2008) or the policies of
the ?affinity network? of EFF, FSF, Wikipedia, Plos and Students for Free
Culture. 

>How can we raise, and organize a new generation of technology-aware
>research that have the guts, and the creativity, to design a comprehensive
>field of critical concepts that can be implemented into code?  

I volunteer for a collaboration in developing a critical research program. 

>We have to stop understanding the Internet, and start to shape it. 

After years building techno-political tools I arrived to the conclusion
that there is something we don't understand about the Internet and need to
be rethink it. There are limitations in the global movement organizational
culture to benefit from the potential of the new technologies in Europe and
in USA, particularly from the multi-interactive web base technologies.  

Concerning the discussion on openness, I would like to briefly point out to
the discussion at the Social Forums frame.  One of the fundamental ideas in
the base of the Social Forums are the one of ?open space?. The Social Forum
as an open space. It can be differentiated several models for providing the
?open space? at the Social Forums process. For example, the organization of
the World Social Forum is based on an International Council (IC). The IC is
composed by defined list of members. The main justification for it is to
guaranty an equilibrium between North-South participation. Instead the
organization of the European Social Forum is based on an open assembly,
anyone can show up and participate. Both models generate exclusions of
different types. However, here the point is how last year the USA Social
Forum (promoted by black-immigrants grassroots sectors) addressed the
question of exclusion and took distance of the idea of open space by
adopting the idea of intentional spaces. To me the issue is how to benefit
from both approaches openness (& serendipity) and intentionality (&
plannification)?
 
In solidarity! Mayo

Mayo Fuster Morell
Research: http://www.onlinecreation.info
School of information - UC Berkeley (Visiting researcher until Dec 2008)
California mobile phone: 01-510-2064743
E-mail: mayo@ischool.berkeley.edu 
Skype: mayoneti

European University Institute - Phd Candidate
Mobile (Italian): 0039-3345440747 
Mobile (Catalan): 0034-659605957
E-mail: mayo.fuster@eui.eu

Techno-politics: openesf.net/people/mayo/profile
www.openelibrary.info
www.openesf.net
www.networked-politics.info
www.euromovements.info


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